Edgewater police train new K-9 officer

The newest crime-fighting weapon in this Southeast Volusia city is a brown, fur-covered bundle of energy.

By Mark I. Johnsonmark.johnson@news-jrnl.com

The newest crime-fighting weapon in this Southeast Volusia city is a brown, fur-covered bundle of energy.Kilo, an almost 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, leaped out of the back seat of a black-and-white patrol car, eager to go to work Monday morning as he stood on his hind legs, his front paws on the chest of his partner, Officer Chas Geiger, and his tail wagging with enthusiasm.But it will be weeks before the pair are prepared to join the department’s K-9 team, searching out drugs or tracking down and apprehending suspects.“Today is the first day of training,” said Frank Ball, Florida director for Vigilant Canine Services, the California-based company that donated the $7,500 police dog to the department. “This is primarily orientation.”Over the next 10 to 14 weeks, working eight hours per day, five days a week, Geiger and Kilo will strive to bond together into a single unit.Geiger was as enthusiastic as Kilo to get started.“This has been a dream of mine since I started in law enforcement,” the 23-year-old officer said. “K-9 officers are the cream of the crop of law enforcement.”He said not only is the position rewarding, but it allows an officer to be both “proactive and reactive” in addressing crime in the community.That proactive attitude was one of the traits Geiger, a three-year veteran of the department, displayed when he was selected to become Edgewater’s second K-9 officer, said Capt. Joe Mahoney, who was on the board that picked him from a field of three applicants.Vigilant Canine Services training officer Bryan Doyle said taking on a dog as a partner is a 24-7 commitment.“It is like having a baby,” he said of the constant attention required from the K-9 officer. “Most guys don’t realize that.” Geiger said he recognized that fact in the 10 days he has had Kilo — named for kilogram, a measurement used when describing narcotics seizures.“I am setting the bar high,” Geiger said of the name he gave to his new partner.Edgewater Police Chief Dave Arcieri said a second K-9 team gives his department another component to crime prevention and apprehension.“Dogs can be sent into an area where an officer cannot go,” he said. “K-9s are an asset that is limitless.”That is why the department was willing to use upwards of $40,000 of police impact fee funds to put another dog-officer team into the field. About $30,000 is for a sport utility vehicle equipped to carry a dog, $5,000 is earmarked for training and the remainder is for other needs such as leads or harnesses for the dog and the officer’s $150-per-month stipend.Arcieri said the biggest cost associated with a dog is care and maintenance — otherwise known as food and veterinary bills. That is being provided as an in-kind donation from Dr. Kim Castro of Animal Clinic of Edgewater.“She offered to do it,” the chief said. “She is very generous.”